Journal+Sites

Dispelling Myths About Blocked Websites in Schools
This article is a great way to clarify why blocking certain sites is important, but also explains how certain things that are currently blocked do not need to be. It has been frustrating not being allowed access certain sites because it is in under a blanket of filtered content. One great example of this is many teacher in our district uses Shutterfly as a webpage. It works very nicely for teachers who want to keep a website running. The unfortunate thing about Shutterfly is that it is often times blocked in major companies such as Sanford and Avera thus preventing parents from viewing the teacher's webpage. I do feel it is important for schools to protect students from unsafe material, but it is also important to educate students about appropriate content. If students are always in a safe little community that they will never see inappropriate content they will not realize the material may be inappropriate when they come across it. Cater makes a great point that we need to educate our students to be safe online. One page that I am somewhat hesitant to use is a photo site called worth1000 this is a great site where students can see unique pictures that may inspire a creative story. This is an ublocked site but occassionally you can see photos that are not appropriate for students. All it takes is a quick warning to students and if they see something they think may be questionable they can ask. Depending which school you are at in the Harrisburg District there may be different restrictions. Currently the elementarilies that are in Sioux Falls use broadband through Midcontinent and the filter goes through lightspeed. The schools in Harrisburg are currently with the state. The filtering is dramatic. My students and I have the ability to watch youtube video and actually post on to youtube on a regular basis.

The article does a great job at covering six categories that need a web 2.0 classroom needs. The first is Internet Safety. It is important for students to feel safe in schools and being online is one more extension to this. Many of the other pillars tie into this idea of how students use the internet. I really enjoy the analogy of students not being taught online safety are like shark bate. I am curious as to see what the future of a textbook will be like. The ideal textbook is something that continually grows and that is what the internet is capable of doing. The concern about the reliability of the content is important to pay attention to, which is one reason why textbooks will continue to be an important tool One possibility is for an established website rating system that students can use as a guide to determine what is accurate. Perhaps the most impressive part of the article is the honesty of the idea that offline tools can work better then tools that can be found online. I do not agree with the idea that we need to change for the sake of change, but it is also important for educators to be open to ideas.
 * Victoria Davis K12Online - ** [|**"The Web 2.0 Classroom"**]** - **